Bloodstained Lily

Chapter 14-That Deadly Thing Hidden in Plain Sight

It’s rare for a human to live to my age now-a-days. If they did, they were either considered extremely lucky or like me and Jordan, had help on their side.

As Harry took me through the city, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy and almost sick as zombies and vampires alike turned their heads but didn’t dare to say anything to me or Harry. I suppose he did have a lot of power, still I noticed a difference. With Zayn, no one dared to even so much as look at me and now that I was with Harry, people were giving me looks and filthy ones as if I was doing something wrong.

“So tell me more about your dream. You said there was no progress, but what happens exactly?”

I sat back a little bit, surprised by his question. He knew everything about my dream, I had told him every little detail so why on earth would he ask such a question? Did he just have a terrible memory or perhaps he was joking?

“You know what happens, there’s nothing more to tell if that’s what you’re asking.”

He shook his head and began laughing.

“It was just a simple joke, Lily.”

I predicted his response and I wasn’t happy by it. It was a dream that both physically and mentally drained me and took my energy away all because I had to constantly watch my parents dying again and again as if it was that day all those years ago.

I continued walking for what felt like hours, even though it was probably only a few minutes.

“Where are we going, Harry? And how far is it?”

The streets were getting creepier by the minute and I swear as I walked past a zombie, it tilted it’s head so far to the left that it was about to detach from its body! It was all too familiar and I had lived here alone with Jordan for four years prior to meeting Harry and Zayn but that was five years ago and I almost forgot how deadly these streets were for a mere human. I didn’t want to continue walking for too much longer so I tried to hurry Harry on a little bit.

“Don’t worry, we are here.”

He announced and his arms shot out in front of us. Without realising it, we had walked to where we needed to be, according to Harry at least though his choice of venue confused me a little.

“The planetarium?”

He laughed and opened the door using his sheer vampire strength to break the lock. I had only ever been here once before and it was beautiful. The carpets were a deep, captivating blue and the walls were a plain pale blue but they were smoother than anything I had ever felt.

It surprised me that as soon as I walked inside, it was still in pristine condition, perfectly the way I remembered it. That was a rare sight now-a-days. Everywhere had either been closed or raided with windows smashed and blood stains.

The most horrific raided sight I had ever seen though was my own apartment all those years ago. My parents’ blood smeared across the window and their pools of blood seeped into the white carpets but the worst part, a vampire’s bloody footstep as it looked around the room before leaving. How do I know it was a vampire and not one of the zombies who had raided it?

Simple, because of the posture of the suggested ‘brains behind the attack’ and not to mention the small glimpse I got of him just as he zoomed out the door. Granted it was a blur and I couldn’t see much but that was a big hint-the fact that I could see him. Usually vampires are undetectable when moving at their top vampire speed so that vampire all those nights ago must have had some sort of serious injury.

I looked around amazed at how little it had been affected, almost as if nothing had changed to it. Aside from the flower field that we now called home, it seemed like the safest place to go due to the fact that it looked like it hadn’t been touched in a decade. It all seemed too good to be true so I turned around and looked at Harry curiously. I knew he would never hurt me and never even attempt to but it still surprised me how he was always being so careful with where he took Jordan and I.

“Why are we here?”

He laughed and smirked handsomely.

“You can call it a small detour if you want. We are only here for a couple of hours and then we have to get you back, we can’t let it get too dark outside, it gets dark outside and if the zombies and vampires saw you come in here then we need to act quickly if we are to get out unharmed.”

He was always being so alert which was understandable but at times, suffocating.

“So what did you bring me here for then? To talk? To lecture me?” I asked sarcastically.

“There won’t be any lecturing, I assure you. We are just here to have fun.”

He laughed and winked devilishly at me. I don’t know why, but I felt in a way connected to him, more than usual. It’s like I felt completely safe with him.

I watched silently as he made his way over to the podium and started pressing a few buttons and I gasped as stars and planets swirled their way around us, as if we were actually floating in space. I reached out and touched Saturn, laughing as my hand went right through it.

Saturn was always my favourite, its rings around its base made it seem like it was hoola-hooping which used to be my favourite thing to do in primary school since it was the only thing I was good at. Granted I only ever attended kindergarten before things with the sups got bad but still, it was better than sitting down and drawing.

In a matter of seconds, Harry was by my side, watching me as I watched in awe of the planets that surrounded us and a couple of times he followed me in putting his hands out and touching multiple stars and planets.

As I looked up at him, I had seen a side of him that I had never seen before-childishness. I hadn’t seen much of that these days being constantly around two vampires and what seemed like a fully grown adult brother.

Suddenly he grabbed hold of my hips and brought me closer towards him and spun me around so I was facing him. I was surprised but still, it was Harry and I knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me.

“What age were you turned?” I asked and immediately he lowered his hands and laughed softly.

“Zayn turned me when I was only twenty but still it was better to be a vampire than a pathetic human wondering the streets for a single scrap of food. He did me a favour.”

That should have been my first sign. If not the abruptness, if not the planetarium and if not the childish behaviour of his, that should have been my first sign.

 I knew Harry valued being human over vampire and I knew that his past life was hard but he had told me previously that he regretted not dying a human. He regretted living his life out as a vampire which saddened me but at the same time I felt like it was a chance for him to get closer towards Jordan as they held the same values, still no luck though.

Suddenly, I felt a little unsafe being by his side, like it wasn’t right in some way but I couldn’t help myself.

He leaned his face close into mine and I could feel his breath on my lips. As he looked into my eyes, I smiled longingly. I loved those green eyes of his, truly mystical and magical and drop-dead gorgeous. So without a moment of hesitation, the minute he passionately pressed his lips into mine, I reciprocated and kissed him back.

As he paused and his lips slowly moved away from mine, I looked back into those beautiful eyes of his once again and my heart sank. I began stepping away and as I looked at the figure in front of me, my lips opened slightly in shock and I could feel my heart beating like it would never stop.

“…Zayn?”